John Francis "Jack" Smith Jr. (born April 6, 1938) is an American businessman and executive who formerly served as COO in 1992, CEO from 1992 to 2000 and then chairman of the board of directors of General Motors from 1996 to 2000.
He joined General Motors as a payroll auditor in 1961, moving to its financial group in New York City in 1966. He went on to hold positions ranging from director of international planning to president of GM Canada, president of GM Europe and head of international operations.
As CEO of GM, he undertook one of its most sweeping reorganizations, overturning a cumbersome and inefficient structure created in the 1920s by Alfred P. Sloan and left virtually unchanged since then. Starting with purchasing in 1992 and ending with engineering in 2003, he brought together separate overlapping functions related to the various divisions that formed the company, while also expanding operations into Asia.[1] In this transformation, which included terminating the Oldsmobile brand, over 90% of core management positions were eliminated,[citation needed] corporate decision-making became faster and easier, production efficiencies and quality improved by spreading the lean manufacturingToyota Production System from NUMMI,[2] and, above all, the bottom line went from near-bankruptcy losses to decent profits.[3] After he relinquished the CEO position in 2000 to his personally selected successor, Rick Wagoner, he continued on as Chairman to see his plan fully executed.
^"NUMMI joint venture in California was a classroom for change". Automotive News. September 14, 2008. from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
john, smith, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, especially, potentia. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources John F Smith Jr news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message John Francis Jack Smith Jr born April 6 1938 is an American businessman and executive who formerly served as COO in 1992 CEO from 1992 to 2000 and then chairman of the board of directors of General Motors from 1996 to 2000 He later served as non executive chairman of the board of directors of Delta Air Lines from 2004 to 2007 He also served as member of board of Procter amp Gamble from 1995 2008 and also Suzuki Motor Corporation Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 References 4 External linksEarly life and education EditSmith was born in Worcester Massachusetts He graduated from Saint John s High School in Shrewsbury Massachusetts and later received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1960 and his Master of Business Administration from Boston University in 1965 While at the University of Massachusetts Amherst he was initiated into the Kappa Sigma fraternity Career EditHe joined General Motors as a payroll auditor in 1961 moving to its financial group in New York City in 1966 He went on to hold positions ranging from director of international planning to president of GM Canada president of GM Europe and head of international operations As CEO of GM he undertook one of its most sweeping reorganizations overturning a cumbersome and inefficient structure created in the 1920s by Alfred P Sloan and left virtually unchanged since then Starting with purchasing in 1992 and ending with engineering in 2003 he brought together separate overlapping functions related to the various divisions that formed the company while also expanding operations into Asia 1 In this transformation which included terminating the Oldsmobile brand over 90 of core management positions were eliminated citation needed corporate decision making became faster and easier production efficiencies and quality improved by spreading the lean manufacturing Toyota Production System from NUMMI 2 and above all the bottom line went from near bankruptcy losses to decent profits 3 After he relinquished the CEO position in 2000 to his personally selected successor Rick Wagoner he continued on as Chairman to see his plan fully executed Along with his chairmanship of Delta Smith is currently a director of several other entities including Procter amp Gamble and The Nature Conservancy Smith is a trustee of Boston University References Edit gmnext com gmnext Resources and Information NUMMI joint venture in California was a classroom for change Automotive News September 14 2008 Archived from the original on October 10 2016 Retrieved October 10 2016 Automotive Hall of Fame External links EditAppearances on C SPANBusiness positionsPreceded byJohn G Smale Chairman of General Motors1996 2003 Succeeded byRick WagonerPreceded byRobert C Stempel CEO of General Motors1992 2000 Succeeded byRick WagonerPreceded byLloyd E Reuss President of General Motors1992 1998 Succeeded byRick Wagoner This article about an American businessperson born in the 1930s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John F Smith Jr amp oldid 1105622184, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
